MORNINGTON NEWS scoreboard
Local football clubs stamp out smoking By Ben Triandafillou IT’S been a year since the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League announced their smoke-free initiative and now local football clubs along the Mornington Peninsula will be following in their footsteps. Football clubs along the Peninsula will stand together to remove smoking at both junior and senior levels ahead of the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on 31 May. Working towards becoming smoke free, AFL South East and its leagues, Frankston District Junior Football League (FDJFL) and Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League (MPNFL), have teamed up with Peninsula Health, St Kilda Football Club, Good Sports, Frankston City Council and Mornington Peninsula Shire. All senior clubs including Seaford, Pines, Frankston YCW, Mornington, Red Hill, Edithvale-Aspendale, Pearcedale, Dromana and Crib Point will be stamping out smoking everywhere at their clubs, except for one designated area for the Quit Challenge Round on 3 June. “Going smoke-free and banning smoking in all areas except one is a significant achievement for these senior clubs,” said Andie Murphy, health promotion practitioner at Peninsula Health. “I congratulate all of the clubs for signing the Frankston Mornington Peninsula Smoke Free Charter and working to create a healthier environment for their players, supporters and the community.” In some pockets of the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston region, smoking rates range from 21%-30% compared to the Victorian average of 13%. The Seaford Football Club will be hosting the Quit Challenge Round on Saturday 3 June at their senior oval and on Sunday 4 June at their junior oval. Seaford Football Club President Dale O’Neil said the club is committed to making the footy a fun and safe day out for families and the local community. “Footy and smoking isn’t a good mix – it’s not good for players or supporters to be around which is why we signed onto the smoke-free charter and implemented a designated smoking area,” said Mr O’Neil. The efforts of all these clubs and the importance of creating smoke-free environments will be celebrated at the Quit Challenge Round with gates open to the public.
Padua College’s cross-country feat continues By Ben Triandafillou PADUA College continued their winning streak at the Southern Independent Secondary Schools (SIS) Cross-Country Championships with their 30th consecutive victory on Tuesday 23 May. With a team of close to 140 students, Padua managed to win ten of the 12 events, finishing runners-up in the other two events at Baxter Park. To top off the feat of 30-consecutiveyears, Padua was able to win all the major aggregate shields including the junior, the intermediate, the senior, the overall girls, the overall boys and the overall aggregate shields. Padua College’s cross-country coach,
Terry Luppino, said that it’s the culture that they have built over the years that has made the greatest difference. “It really started from the original coach, Mr Morgan Morris, and we have just continued to build the culture that he started and continued regular training and a cross-country camp that binds the team together,” Mr Luppino said. “He was a very accomplished runner himself and ran against some of the legends of running like Herb Elliott and such, and he really started to get the ball rolling.” “It has sort of snowballed from there.” Padua attends a camp at Golden
Valleys Lodge in Flinders each year which Mr. Luppino says has definitely benefited the students. “We’ve been going to the camp for about 15 years which is a fantastic venue and the lady who owns the place, Andrea, really looks after us,” Mr. Luppino said. “She’s become part of the team as we go there so often.” Mr Morgan Morris still joins the students on the camps and at the SIS Championships to support and motivate the runners. “It’s always great to see him there and I guess the kids sort of feed off it,” Mr Luppino said.
Gridiron club makes waves Country club cause: Jeanette Horsley (left) from Southern Peninsula Youth Services with Eileen Naylor RCC Ladies President.
Rosebud Country Club raises money for youth The Shark Tank: Peninsula Sharks training at their home ground in preparation for the 2018 season.
By Ben Triandafillou A MORNINGTON Peninsula-based Gridiron club is looking to provide the area with the first and only Gridiron club on the Peninsula since 2009. Currently based in Carrum Downs, the Peninsula Sharks was formed in early-January and is currently in a recruitment phase. The Peninsula Sharks are hoping to have teams entered in the 2018 Gridiron Victoria league, but co-founder Garry Smith said, that the club will have a different ‘feel’. “We want to start fresh and put new games in place because some teams have the stigma that it’s just a boys club but being a young dad with two kids we want to make it more of a
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Mornington News 30 May 2017
family orientated sport,” Smith said. “We want to remove the idea of Gridiron being a dangerous, hard-hitting sport where the blokes would go out afterwards and have some drinks, to a more family-friendly sport where you can bring your kids down and enjoy the game.” Since the Southern Seahawks folded in 2009, the Mornington Peninsula has been without a Gridiron team. With the closest Gridiron club for people on the Peninsula being in Pakenham and Cheltenham, the Peninsula Sharks want to provide players on the Mornington Peninsula with a club located closer to home. “We floated the idea in October last year as it’s a bit of an untapped re-
source on the Peninsula,” Smith said. “We were there at the start of the Seahawks in 2003 and we wanted to get back into it as we just have a passion for the game.” “Some of the founding members and I live down here and don’t want to travel to Clayton or Monash.” The Peninsula Sharks had their first training session at Ballam Park, Frankston on Saturday 22 April where more than thirty people turned-up to watch and play. The Sharks are currently training on a Saturday afternoon between 11:30 am and 2:00 pm at Banyan Reserve, Carrum Downs until their new ground at The Sands is ready for play. “We are getting some lights put in
with our new sponsors at The Sands Hotel so that we can have weeknight trainings,” Smith said. “We are recruiting for all teams and we’ll keep training and developing the sides to hopefully put in a team for next year.” “There are four leagues, the Junior Varsity league which is for kids between 11 and 15 years old, the Junior Colts which is for boys aged between 15-19 years old, the Senior Men’s which is 19 plus and the Women’s league which is 16 plus.” If you are interested in joining the Sharks or just want to have a try call Garry Smith on 0431 681 318 or visit their website at www.peninsulasharks.com/.
By Ben Triandafillou ROSEBUD Country Clubs’ Annual Golden Putter Day was held on Thursday 11 May with 216 lady golfers attending. The overall winners of the Golden Putter Day were Helena O’Keefe and Beverley Reinhard with 47 points. This day along with the RCC Open Day raffle and a donation from the RCC enabled the ladies to present Southern Peninsula Youth Services with a cheque for $8,000. Jeanette Horsley from Southern Peninsula Youth Services, the chosen charity for 2017, was thankful for the generosity shown by the ladies. Jeanette congratulated the Rosebud Country Club, and especially the women’s committee, for an outstanding job and said the money would go towards programs that assist young people in our community achieve their full potential. To connect with Southern Peninsula Youth Service simply call Jeanette Horsley on 0448 916 724.